


Lain His Hands On Her

by AHeartForStories



Series: Mel's Banned Together Bingo [1]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Abuse, Abuse of women, Astrid Hofferson Whump, Banned Together Bingo, F/M, Physical Abuse, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:08:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27786505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AHeartForStories/pseuds/AHeartForStories
Summary: Written for Banned Together Bingo. Set after RttE. When a confrontation between Astrid and Spitelout turns physical, the Riders are left shaken and Hiccup is furious.
Relationships: Astrid & Fishlegs & Hiccup & Ruffnut & Snotlout & Tuffnut, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Snotlout Jorgenson, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson
Series: Mel's Banned Together Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2032876
Comments: 12
Kudos: 107
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020





	Lain His Hands On Her

**Author's Note:**

> Banned Together Bingo prompt: Abuse of Women
> 
> I had a lot of fun with this one, mainly because angry Hiccup is fun to write. And then the tending to later is also really fun.
> 
> Constructive criticism is appreciated!  
> Enjoy!

The sound of the back of Spitelout's hand making contact with Astrid's cheek rings out loud and clear in the Great Hall. Those present fall silent and stare in utter shock at what has just happened in front of their very eyes.

Astrid is on the floor, holding her cheek and staring up at the man who hit her. All she can do is stare, much too perplexed as she reels with the reality that someone, a man, Snotlout's father, has just hit her.

And for what? Because she made a couple of snide comments about his parenting?

Well, she's right, isn't she?

"Spitelout!" Astrid wishes she could react with that kind of anger, but it's Hiccup who gets in the man's face and gives him a wallop of a punch with his left, further surprising everyone present in the hall. After breaking free from the utter shock of watching the love of his life be hurt, that is his immediate response.

This time Spitelout is the one to stumble to the floor with a grunt, knocking over some chairs as the heir of Berk did not hold back in that blow.

"You son of a-"

"Hiccup, no!" Fishlegs is quick to hold him back, hooking his arms under his friend's and using his quite formidable strength to hold him back.

All the Riders are here and so is Toothless, who is by Astrid and growling at the Jorgenson patriarch. He shares his human's anger.

Snotlout is silent, seemingly not with them as he stares right through them all in disbelieve. Ruffnut and Tuffnut each stand by a side of his, laying their hands on him in comfort.

"Let me go, Fishlegs!" Hiccup attempts to struggle out of Fishlegs' grip, but it remains strong.

Spitelout gets up to his feet and scowls at the party of seven before him. The other Berkians present in the Hall, they stare silently, but they are unimportant to him at the moment.

As he dusts himself off, his eyes briefly lay on the reeling Astrid before going to Hiccup's, who shares his look of anger.

"Standing up for your woman, can't say I can disrespect that, but when a man disciplines a woman-" Spitelout approaches with a finger raised and Fishlegs looks uncertain, his grip on Hiccup lessening slightly.

"Disciplines-?! Do you even hear yourself, Spitelout?! You lay your hands on her again and I'll-" And Hiccup grabs him by his shirt before Fishlegs manages to tear him away from their elder.

"And you'll do what, Boy-o? Punch me in the face some more? If it's a fight you're looking for, you'll get it!" Spitelout shouts in his face, standing just inches away from him, close enough for Hiccup to nearly feel the spit from his talking on his face.

Fishlegs' hold on Hiccup tightens some more and he attempts to pull him away.

"Fishlegs, stop getting involved!"

"Dad," Snotlout's voice is soft as he forcibly tears himself out of his shock. He doesn't want them to fight, he doesn't like to see Hiccup that angry, he hates that Astrid got hurt. She's so proud and that is so demeaning.

But when his father gives him that look, he grows silent again and Ruff and Tuff hold him closer.

Spitelout scoffs at the sight he thinks pathetic and waves dismissively before turning and leaving. He stomps towards the door, not in the least bit ashamed of what he's done, he returns home.

Blood still boiling, Hiccup shouts and kicks a nearby table leg, the table audibly grinding on the stone floor.

How dare he hurt someone like that! Hurt _Astrid_ like that! How dare he? How dare he?!

"Hiccup, it's okay! He's gone and Astrid's with us!" Fishlegs attempts to console him, but they all can see the red mark on her face and that just does not sit well with any of them.

Picking up her axe, her dignity trampled upon, Astrid gets up and leaves.

"Astrid!" Wriggling himself out of Fishlegs' hold, Hiccup runs after her. Toothless quickly follows.

Snotlout is left to stand there, remaining with Fishlegs and the twins.

* * *

Not long after, both out of their armor, Hiccup and Astrid sit at the former's home. Stoick isn't there yet, so they have some time to themselves.

Toothless is here, too, and sniffing Astrid's cheek. She gives him a smile and scratches him behind the ear.

A red welt has formed on her skin and Hiccup has crushed some ice with a hammer and gathered it in a cloth to press against it.

It was nice to hammer away at the block, it was good for venting. Astrid got her turn to crush it, too.

Holding the pack with ice, he's not pressing too hard, or so he hopes, and his other hand holds her jawline.

They've been mostly silent, neither really feeling like talking much with what has happened. Astrid has been petting Toothless.

"I'm so sorry for what he did." Hiccup apologizes, though he shouldn't be the one to.

"You shouldn't be, Spitelout's the one with the temper." Astrid reminds him and Hiccup wonders how that is supposed to make him feel better. Whether as the Chief's son and heir, as leader of the Dragon Riders, as her friend, or as her future husband, it doesn't matter. What matters is that it's his duty to keep everyone safe and that absolutely includes her.

So he sighs and continues to tend to her cheek, lifting the pack briefly to take a look. Spitelout isn't a weak man and Astrid's cheek is going to bruise. Hiccup's scowl deepens.

"Hey, don't."

"Don't what?"

"Let it eat you up. We both know Spitelout is a horrible man, pretty sure most of Berk knows by now." Astrid tells him and places a hand on one of his.

"Dad and I never should've let his behavior come this far." Hiccup tells her, briefly lifting the ice off her reddened cheek to take another look. Underneath all that red, it's already blue.

A light growling leaves him and Astrid replaces his hand.

"Spitelout doesn't even listen to your dad, what makes you think you could've done anything to change him or kept this from happening?" She asks and it's a valid point. They know that he has hurt his own son before, for Odin's sake. Of course, he wouldn't have any qualms about hurting someone else.

If Hiccup has any regrets so far, it's definitely that he can do nothing to help Snotlout.

_"Stay of this, son. This is between Spitelout and Snotlout."_

Not matter how far his father has come from old Viking customs, some just will not leave. One of those is that a man's son is his business and no one else's. That frustrates Hiccup greatly.

But should he one day become Chief, in the far, far future he's sure, that is something he looks forward to changing. No child will be hurt by their parent on his watch.

Astrid watches Hiccup carefully, practically able to read his train of thought from his expressions alone.

He is very expressive and Astrid wonders if he knows he can carry entire visible conversations with himself without ever saying a word. If he doesn't, well, she's not planning on telling him. He might stop if she does.

"Hey," She speaks up, tearing him out of his contemplation. "Thank you for defending me. That was very sweet of you."

"It's no problem, you would've done the same for me." Hiccup tells her with a shrug.

He knows Astrid can take care of herself just fine and that if the roles were reversed and Spitelout had lain his hands on him, she would've gotten in his face about it as well.

Astrid nods in agreement, knowing she would've given Spitelout a right hook of her own if she saw him hurt Hiccup. And then she'd probably enjoy watching Stoick give him one, just like she'll be watching her parents give him one once they find out.

That's the only reason why she isn't more upset, that Spitelout will still answer for this even though they can't do much to help Snotlout but provide him with a place where he can feel safe.

That and how much Hiccup cares for her. She knows she chose right when she accepted his offer of marriage.

So she supposes Spitelout can hit her as many times as he wants. If she doesn't hit him right back, she knows Hiccup will in her stead.

And maybe, someday, they can do something more for Snotlout, too.


End file.
